I have not yet got the score sheets to Mick for verification, so this is unqualified and confirmation of the new club records will follow when Mick has entered the details into his system. However, working through the score sheets it looks like a whole raft of personal bests were achieved over the weekend. Rather than post those here and then again in the club records posting, I’ll defer that for later.
Can I also thank everyone who arrived early for this shoot. I was concerned about time and got there early to begin setting out the bosses. I was therefore amazed to see Simon and Bob with half the field already set up and we were ready and waiting to shoot a five past ten.
It is unsual for me to pick an archer of the day for the Sunday shoot. This is because so many AoR archers, right along the shooting line, are trying harder and harder, practicing longer and longer and too many people are raising their game week on week. It is therefore unfair for me to single any one person out specifically.
However, this weekend I will single out one person. Not because they have previously commented that their sister frequently gets a mention and this young archer rarely gets a look in on here, but because they really stepped up to the plate and, in my mind, was a real winner over the whole weekend.
This young archer knew that they were having a good weekend and that they were pushing themselves at the same time. Whilst smiling all through the weekend, I still only managed to get one of two words out of them. A challenge if ever I had one <g>.
This young lady (that narrows the field slightly) has joined AoR as one of the older juniors and finds herself already shooting against the experienced Lauren and Katie. Two county archers, with good kit that has been tuned and with many hours of coaching and practice under their belts and both setting county records, Lauren and Katie are good role models, but very tough competition.
Amber Wilkins, knew that making 50 yards with her new bow (no clicker, new limbs, indoor arrows that are not spined for the bow, etc. etc.) was going to be a big ask. Over the last few weeks she has moved up from 20 and 30 yards to tackle 40 and over this weekend she made the move to 50 yards and the first opportunity to shoot a full scoring round at her correct age level.
During Saturday she worked hard on the 50 and 40 distances to get sight marks and she worked tirelessly on getting scoring arrows at the new distance.
With Katie off revising for exams this coming week, Amber would go head to head with Lauren and tackle the new distance for real.
With a wish to simply get scoring arrows at 50 yards, Amber opened with all six arrows scoring and posted a nice 22 for the half dozen. This was topped with another six on the target and a 28, making a nice round 50 for the dozen. Her second dozen saw just one arrow miss the target, but she improved her score for the dozen by posting a 55. Then, with her confidence rising and the smile broadening, she stepped up and finished the distance with no more misses and a brilliant 74 and 70 for the final two dozen at the distance. At the half way stage, she had only one miss and a handsome 249 points bagged.
Now, I should point out that the Short Western county record has stood since May 2000 at 489 points. Take that record score and Amber’s half way score and it makes interesting reading, especially given how long she has been shooting, her equipment, etc.
So, into the final four dozen for the eight dozen rounds. With sights reset for 40 yards she opened with a 74 end and again no misses. In fact, she completed the round with no further misses. Just one miss for the whole round was a big win in itself. Her second dozen dropped slightly with a 70, but still very consistent. This was trumped with a fine 82 for the third and 78 for the final dozen.
With a total score of 553, a new personal best had been set, the club record had evaporated and the county record had been blitzed and a wonderful personal result all round. A major achievement for someone who just a few days ago was saying that she could not reach 50 yards and was worried about missing all the time.
The only fly in the ointment was young Lauren. I don’t want to take the shine off of either girls achievements, but finishing a minute or two after Amber, Lauren posted a fine 648 and ‘hopefully’ a new county record.
So, assuming Lauren’s claim is successful, Amber can claim that she had the county record for a few minutes and for someone who has only been shooting for a short while and considering the kit that she has at the moment, that was an awesome performance and worthy of my:
ARCHER OF THE DAY.
Well done Amber, onwards and upwards.